The following was received from the State of North Carolina via email:

"On July 31, 2012 a portable nuclear gauge owned by ECS of Raleigh (License Number 092-0253-1) was run over and crushed by a tracked dozer. The incident occurred off Caveness Farm Road in Wake Forest, NC.

"The gauge user stated that he had finished performing density testing for the day and was proceeding to leave the job-site. After exiting the job site and traveling the length of Caveness Farms Road to US Highway 1, he noted that his tailgate was down on his pick-up truck. He exited the truck to close the tailgate and noticed that the gauge was missing. He then traveled back to the job site and retraced his path to his testing location. He then observed the gauge approximately 100 feet from where he had been testing. Upon approaching the gauge he noted that it had been crushed by the dozer. The rod on the gauge was in the safe position with the source being shielded. A trigger lock was not present on the gauge at this time.

"The ECS RSO was notified and the user instructed the other workers in the area to remain at least 50 feet from the damaged gauge. They did.

"The ECS RSO arrived on the job site at approximately 3:00 pm. Upon arrival, he surveyed the damaged gauge with survey meter. A reading of 0.4 mrem/hr was noted at approximately 1 meter and a reading of 1 mrem/hr was noted on contact with the source. The RSO interviewed the dozer operator, who said that he did not see the density gauge in his path of travel but felt the gauge under the dozer as he traveled over it. He proceeded to a safe distance and notified his supervisor. He stated that moments later the ECS technician returned to the area of the damaged gauge.

"The RSO contacted the NC Radiation Protection Section and notified them of the incident. A NC RPS inspector was dispatched to the scene. Troxler Laboratories (gauge Mfg) was also contacted about the incident.

"When the NC RPS inspector arrived on the job site, he and the ECS RSO surveyed the damaged gauge. Once it was determined the gauge was safe to move, the gauge source rod and shield assembly was placed into the transport case. The rest of the gauge was collected and contained. After the pieces of the gauge were removed from the area where it was damaged, the area was surveyed and no reading over 0.03 mrem/hr were noted. The Inspector indicated that the sources had been recovered and the area was safe to resume work.

"Survey readings were taken of the transport case after the sources had been placed in the case. The highest reading was 70 mR/hr contact on the outside of the transport case at the end where the damaged source shield was located. The tungsten sliding block was damaged and was loose. Dose rates on the rest of the transport box were in the 0.1 range, with higher doses on the end. Dose at 1 meter (app) from the transport box end where the source was 0.2 mR/hr.

"At 6:00 pm the gauge was transported back to the ECS office. It arrived at the ECS office at approximately 6:45 pm and was stored in the appointed nuclear gauge storage location. The gauge was marked 'Do Not Use' and ECS technicians were instructed not to move the damaged gauge.

"ECS will take leak tests on August 1, 2012 and upon being notified of the results of the leak test, Troxler Labs will be notified of our intent to transport the gauge to their RTP location."

AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP DUE TO HIGH REACTOR COOLANT SYSTEM PRESSURIZER PRESSURE

"At 0823 hours on August 8, 2012, Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2) experienced an automatic reactor trip. The reactor automatically tripped due to High Reactor Coolant System Pressurizer Pressure that was caused by a Main Turbine trip due to high condenser back pressure from a degraded vacuum condition. The Reactor Protection System (RPS) performed as designed in response to the High Reactor Coolant System Pressurizer Pressure condition resulting in automatic shutdown of the reactor from approximately 100 percent power. All Control Element Assemblies (CEAs) fully inserted on the trip. The Emergency Feedwater Actuation System (EFAS) actuated for the 'A' Steam Generator only due to level trending slightly below the setpoint. The plant has transitioned to supplying the steam generators using the Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) system.

"The unit is currently in Mode 3 and implementing the transient response process. The investigation into the cause of the trip is ongoing and the local NRC Resident Inspectors have been notified."

The unit is in a normal electrical lineup, and the decay heat is being removed by the main condenser via the turbine bypass valves.

The State Department of Health was notified and ANO-2 will be issuing a press release.

"At 1350 PDT on 08-08-2012, during the performance of an annual surveillance, power supply ARM-E/S-603A was discovered to have out of tolerance voltage readings. ARM-E/S-603A was declared non-functional. This resulted in a loss of the ability to monitor and quantify radiological conditions in multiple areas of the reactor building, due to the loss of ARM-RIS-1 through 10 (Area Radiation Monitor Radiation Indicating Switches 1 through 10).

"The loss of ability to monitor and quantify radiological conditions in multiple areas of the reactor building represents a major loss of emergency assessment capability per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(xiii). As directed by station procedures, compensatory measures have been enacted to have Health Physics personnel tour the affected areas once per shift to document and trend the radiological conditions. ARM-RIS-1 and 4 thru 10 are used for EAL determinations.